


Red Splash

by SushiOwl



Series: Pigments and Pentacles [12]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Pack Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 21:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4721651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SushiOwl/pseuds/SushiOwl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Can we keep him?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Splash

**Author's Note:**

> How long did it take me to write this? Forever. :D
> 
> Introducing a new wolf - Reggie.

Business was good at the shop. Ever since the glowing review had been posted by Vince, they were getting so many new customers. They'd had to make appointments through the next few months because Peter and Carina couldn't handle everyone at once.

The was why Peter was going to ask Stiles to put out an ad for a new artist. They needed someone to pick up the slack.

That was what Peter was thinking about on the way to open up the shop that day. And he wasn't expecting for there to be someone waiting in front of the parlor at 3:45pm. He took a deep breath in the cold air and relaxed. It was just Dan.

"You're here early," Peter greeted, pulling his keys out of his jacket pocket. Usually everyone arrived around five. Peter could handle the shop on his own for an hour.

Dan tried to smile, but it looked forced. "I wanted to talk to you," he said, hands shoved into his coat pockets and shoulders up around his ears.

"Should I be worried?" Peter asked as he unlocked the store and went inside, flipping on the lights.

"I don't know," Dan replied as he followed Peter in. "It's something I've been giving a lot of thought to in the past month or so." He shed his coat at the counter, draping it over the back of the wheely chair there.

Peter dropped his own jacket at his station and turned to Dan. "Okay, lay it on me," he said, trying to steel himself even though he had no idea what he was steeling himself for. He hoped Dan wasn't quitting. He was just over halfway through his apprenticeship, so a whole new career was on the horizon.

Dan took a deep breath, bringing himself up to full height. "I want the Bite."

Well. That wasn't even the same realm as to what Peter had been expecting. He blinked a couple times. "Okay, mind telling me why exactly?" 

Dan's eyes flicked over to Carina's station then back, before he looked guilty because he knew he'd just given everything away. "Um," he tried.

"I'm not biting you if your only reason to be bitten is to get Carina's attention," Peter told him firmly. "She may reject your advances, and you might come to resent her. You would be stuck in a pack with someone you gave up your humanity for."

"I'm not some trilby wearing Nice Guy afraid of getting friendzoned. I love her--" Dan went to protest.

But Peter cut him off. "Talk to her first," he told him, and that shut Dan right up. "You might be surprised about what you find out. If you still want to be a werewolf after that, I will give you the Bite."

Dan looked down, pressing his lips into a tight line. "I just want to be the perfect match for her, you know?"

"You don't have to be a werewolf for that," Peter told him, because he should know. As Dan nodded, Peter stepped closer to squeeze his shoulder. "You'll talk to her?"

Dan nodded again, meeting Peter's eyes. “Yeah, okay, I will,” he said, swallowing. He looked just about as nervous as he could be. He stepped back and went over to the front counter, pulling out his sketch pad and getting to work.

Stiles arrived about a half hour later, waltzing in with a rosy nose and cheeks from the cold. He grinned brightly as he greeted Dan, before he moved over to Peter, who turned his chair so Stiles could slide into his lap where he belonged. “Hello, Squishywolf,” he said, pressing his chilled face into Peter’s neck.

"Hello, dear one," Peter replied, nuzzling at Stiles's shoulder. "How was class?"

Stiles sat up and shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I'm so ready for winter break though. I'm going to sleep at least a week."

The corner of Peter’s lips twitched up. "And here I was thinking I could close the shop a few days and have you all to myself."

"Hm." Stiles tapped his chin like he was giving it some serious thought. "I suppose I can fit you into my busy schedule. I'll check my planner."

Peter snorted. "Then your people will call my people?"

"Exactly," Stiles replied, leaning in to rub their noses together. Then he slid off of Peter’s lap to get head over to his study station.

"Oh, hey," Peter said as Stiles put his bag on the bench. "Can you do me a favor?" When Stiles nodded, he went on. "Can you put an ad out on that forum? For a new artist, I mean."

"Oh, yeah?" Stiles said, pulling his laptop out of his bag. "Do we have enough room for another artist?" 

Peter glanced around the shop. It wasn't the biggest place, and it wasn't like they all had private rooms. But they weren't tripping over each other. The desk in the far corner usually held extra inventory, but it could be appropriated for a new tattooist. Anything after that though... Peter hummed and scratched at his goatee. The shop next door, the one they shared a wall with, was empty and for sale. That could be an investment.

"Do you want me to go ahead and put out an ad?" Stiles asked, pulling Peter out of his thoughts.

"Yes," Peter said, nodding. "Werewolf preferred, but human is fine." Stiles bobbed his head up and down in response, sitting down and opening up his laptop. Peter left him to it, turning and going back to the shoulder piece of a kraken he was sketching for a customer. He didn't look up until the doorbell jingled.

Carina was there, scrubbing her hand through her short hair and letting out a 'brrr.' "It's a bit nippy today, isn't it?" she said with a smile, heading towards her station.

"Hey, Car?" Dan said, stopping her. He looked nervous again. "Can I talk to you? Outside?"

Carina stopping taking off her scarf. "Okaaaay," she said, rightfully suspicious. She headed back toward the door. "But you'll have to cuddle me for warmth if it starts snowing."

Dan grinned, grabbing his coat and going to follow her. "Gladly," he said. And as he went out, he added, "But I don't think it's snowed since the 70s."

"Details!" Carina replied haughtily as the door closed.

Peter snorted softly, going back to his sketch, but then he heard wheels on the floor and looked over to see Stiles scooting his way. "Are you about to ask me if I know what's happening?" he asked, looking back down again.

Stiles bumped into him. "Do you?" He plopped his chin on Peter's shoulder, ogling his drawing like the nosy thing he was.

"I do," Peter replied, adding a few more lines as he heard and felt Stiles huff in impatience. "Dan asked for the Bite."

"Say whaaaat?"

Peter chuckled. "But he only wants to be a werewolf to be a good match for Carina. So I told him to talk to her first. Now you're all caught up."

"Man, to be a fly on the wall during that conversation," Stiles said, rubbing his cheek against Peter’s shoulder in a way that pleased Peter’s way deeply. "I'm surprised Carina hasn't noticed how completely in love with her Dan is."

Peter was about to say something, but then Carina's voice interrupted, loud enough to be heard inside the shop. "You did what?!"

"Oooh, Dan's in trouble," Stiles sang, grinning.

"As he should be," Peter replied. He was actually pleased that Dan was admitting his feelings for Carina, since he’d been holding a candle for her the entire time he'd been Peter’s apprentice, and probably longer than that.

A bit later, when Peter was back to work and Stiles had returned to his desk, the door opened, and in sidled Carina, holding Dan's hand. Dan had on a dreamy smile like Carina was the moon and stars. It was disgustingly cute.

"So you two seemed to have worked everything out," Peter said, smirking.

"Hooray!" Stiles sang.

Carina laughed so loud and unladylike that it sounded like a honk. It was weirdly adorable. "Yeah, we talked," she said, swinging her and Dan's hands back and forth. "Things are good." She looked at Dan, a sparkly smile on her face. "Right?"

Dan bobbed his head in a nod. "Yeah, totally." He caught Peter's gaze. "I don't want the Bite right now, but someday I might."

"I'll willingly give it if you do," Peter told him.

Dan grinned at him, looking down at his and Carina's joined hands. "As much as I want to be your conjoined twin, we might have to actually let go."

Carina hummed, releasing Dan's hand and heading toward her station. But then Dan grabbed her hand again, lifting it up to kiss her fingers one by one. Carina laughed and pushed at Dan's face. "You big goober."

Peter went back to work on the drawing of the shoulder piece, letting himself block out everything else until he was completely done with the line work. When he looked up again, Carina was tattooing a nautical star on a man's elbow. Stiles was busy on his computer. And Dan was drawing away. The silence, broken only by the buzzing of a tattoo machine, was comfortable.

"Oh hey," Stiles piped up eventually, and Peter, along with the others, looked over. "Someone responded to the ad."

"That was quick," Peter said, standing and going to Stiles to look over his shoulder. 

"Hello, I am interested in being interviewed for the tattoo artist position in your shop. I am a werewolf, alone since I moved to the city a year ago, so I won't stink up the place with intruder smells. I have an extensive portfolio I'd love to share.

R. Bishop"

There was a phone number and an email address listed as contact info.

Peter let out a 'hm' of consideration, straightening up.

"Should I ask them to come by?" Stiles asked, tilting his head back to look at Peter upside down.

Smiling at the sight, Peter nodded. "Sure." Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to Stiles's.

Stiles grinned against his mouth, and his eyes were twinkling when Peter stood up again. "Mm, Spider-Man kisses. My favorite."

* * *

The very next day, a new werewolf showed up. Peter stood when he came in, subtly scenting the air to see if he belonged to Vince's pack. But he didn't. He just smelled of loneliness.

"Hello," Peter said, going over to the counter. "You must be R. Bishop."

The wolf nodded, stepping forward. He was tall, a lanky thing with dense freckles on his face, thick red hair in a bun and a red beard. There was a messenger bag hanging from his shoulder. "I'm Reg--" He stopped, lips thinning out in a line. "Call me Reggie." He put out his hand.

Peter couldn't help his smirk as he shook Reggie's hand. "Is your name Reginald, by chance?"

Reggie groaned. "Yes, my parents are cruel WASPs."

"Then I won't say it again." Peter patted the glass counter. "You have your portfolio?" Reggie opened his messenger bag and pulled out a binder, handing it over. Peter opened it as he said, “Tell me about yourself. You said you moved here a year ago? And you don’t have a pack?” The first page of the binder was just Reggie's name and a little design.

“Yeah,” Reggie said with a sigh. “I mean, I used to have a pack.”

Peter lifted his eyes, one brow going up. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, no,” Reggie said, waving a hand, before he cleared his throat. “I moved here to go to law school--Stanford. When I dropped out, my parents disowned me. Out of the family means out of the pack, so.” He scrubbed his palm over his beard. 

Peter cleared his throat. "Well, way to way us for making this as awkward as can be. I'm Peter, by the way, Peter Hale." He turned to the others, who were all pretending they weren't listening. Stiles was just staring at the ceiling like that wasn't the most obvious thing ever. "And that's the pack. Stiles, Dan and Carina." He turned his eyes to Reggie. "We are small, but we are mighty."

That made Reggie grin, his shoulders sagging. "It feels good in here," he said, slow like he wasn't sure those were the right words. "Easy. Comfortable." He looked down, dragging his fingertips across the glass edge of the counter. "It's nice."

"Can we keep him?" Carina called.

Peter looked at her, huffing. "I have to look at his stuff first." He turned to the binder. He flipped the first page, and his eyebrows went up. It was a sketchy scene in mostly black of a screaming woman with her head exploding and her wild hair turning into birds. There was a red EKG line splashed across the back. It was in its way chaotic, and it came together well.

"So," Peter started. "Trash polka?"

"What? I wanna see!" came Carina's voice as she skittered up to the counter to look. "Oooh. Cool."

Reggie's cheeks flushed, which contrasted interestingly with his red hair. "I like trash polka a lot, but it's not the only thing I can do. My master made sure to school me in traditional, realism, new school, the works."

"That's good to hear," Peter said, watching as Carina turned the pages. 

The tattoos were definitely beautiful. Reggie was especially good with skulls and faces. Peter wouldn't mind having someone around to help with the portraits. He certainly had an eye for colors, on all types of skin. Carina keep making little sounds of joy, snorts and squeaks. She approved, and that was good, because Peter approved too.

“When can you start?” Peter asked, and Reggie grinned so wide it probably hurt.

“You should totally go to karaoke with us tonight!” Carina blurted out excitedly.

One half of Reggie’s face fell, and then the other belatedly. “What?” 

“It’s pack tradition. One Tuesday a month,” Carina said, looking awfully devious for someone so small.

* * *

That night at around midnight, Peter locked up the shop, and they headed toward the karaoke bar. Carina cuddled up against Dan right away, probably trying to zap his warmth, and he wrapped his thick arm around her, his laughter making white clouds in front of his face. 

Peter took Stiles’s hand, intertwining their fingers loosely. It was cold, but his temperature was warm enough that he didn't need a constant cuddle buddy. Carina was the same, so she was probably clinging to Dan for the sake of it. It was cute, really. It was also about damn time.

Reggie must have felt a little left out, because he smelled of awkwardness. He watched Dan and Carina as subtly as he could, his hands in his pockets. Then he looked back at Peter and Stiles, his eyes zeroing in on their joined hands. His mouth formed a little 'o' of realization, before he looked to the sky to save face.

Peter slid his eyes to Stiles and found him looking back with a similar smirk on his face. Reggie wasn't homophobic. He didn't smell like anger and hate. He was probably just embarrassed that he might seem so.

When they reached the bar, Dan held the door open for everyone. The hostess knew them by now, and they were led to the blue room. She asked if they'd like beer tonight, which they did, so she headed off to get a couple of pitchers.

Peter sat down at one side of the half moon couch, laying his arms across the back. Stiles plopped down next to him, leaning into his side.

Carina was already looking through the song book. "Okay," she said, before she thrust a mic in Reggie's direction without looking. "Since you're the newbie, you get to have the first song."

"You will regret this," Reggie said, taking the mic. "I'm a terrible singer." 

"I'm sure you're fine," Carina said with an encouraging smile.

It turned out that Reggie wasn't kidding. He was _awful_. He couldn't hit any notes to save his life, and his voice kept breaking. He sounded a bit like a cat being strangled by barbed wire. It was kind of amazing.

At the end of his song, Reggie looked at the ground, at their somewhat horrified expressions, and blushed to the tips of his ears. "I did say," he said, handing the mic back to Carina.

"You did. I will never doubt you again," Carina said, before she went back to the song book.

Reggie didn't sing anymore, but he didn’t seem bothered. He just grinned and clapped along with the tunes. And when they were kicked out of the joint at just after two in the morning, he didn't smell awkward or hesitant anymore. He smelled content, like pack.

**Author's Note:**

> I think there's going to be a big time skip soon. Probably the one after next.


End file.
